CSS Pseudo-elements

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What are Pseudo-Elements?

A CSS pseudo-element is used to style specified parts of an element.

For example, it can be used to:

• Style the first letter, or line, of an element
• Insert content before, or after, the content of an element

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Syntax

The syntax of pseudo-elements:

selector::pseudo-element {
  property:value;
}

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The ::first-line Pseudo-element

The ::first-line pseudo-element is used to add a special style to the first line of a text.

The following example formats the first line of the text in all <p> elements:

p::first-line {
  color: #ff0000;
  font-variant: small-caps;
}

Note: The ::first-line pseudo-element can only be applied to block-level elements.

The following properties apply to the ::first-line pseudo-element:

• font properties
• color properties
• background properties
• word-spacing
• letter-spacing
• text-decoration
• vertical-align
• text-transform
• line-height
• clear

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The ::first-letter Pseudo-element

The ::first-letter pseudo-element is used to add a special style to the first letter of a text.

The following example formats the first letter of the text in all <p> elements: 

p::first-letter {
  color: #ff0000;
  font-size: xx-large;
}

Note: The ::first-letter pseudo-element can only be applied to block-level elements.

The following properties apply to the ::first-letter pseudo- element: 

• font properties
• color properties 
• background properties
• margin properties
• padding properties
• border properties
• text-decoration
• vertical-align (only if "float" is "none")
• text-transform
• line-height
• float
• clear

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Pseudo-elements and CSS Classes

Pseudo-elements can be combined with CSS classes:

p.intro::first-letter {
  color: #ff0000;
  font-size:200%;
}

This is an introduction.

This is a paragraph with some text. A bit more text even.

The example above will display the first letter of paragraphs with class="intro", in red and in a larger size.

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Multiple Pseudo-elements

Several pseudo-elements can also be combined.

In the following example, the first letter of a paragraph will be red, in an xx-large font size. The rest of the first line will be blue, and in small-caps. The rest of the paragraph will be the default font size and color:

p::first-letter {
  color: #ff0000;
  font-size: xx-large;
}
p::first-line {
  color: #0000ff;
  font-variant: small-caps;
}

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CSS - The ::before Pseudo-element

The ::before pseudo-element can be used to insert some content before the content of an element.

The following example inserts an image before the content of each <h1> element:

h1::before {
  content: url(smiley.gif);
}

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CSS - The ::after Pseudo-element

The ::after pseudo-element can be used to insert some content after the content of an element.

h1::after {
  content: url(smiley.gif);
}

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CSS - The ::selection Pseudo-element

The ::selection pseudo-element matches the portion of an element that is selected by a user.

The following CSS properties can be applied to ::selection: color, background, cursor, and outline.

The following example makes the selected text red on a yellow background:

::selection {
  color: red; 
  background: yellow;
}

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All CSS Pseudo Elements

Selector	Example	Example description
::after	p::after	Insert something after the content of each <p> element
::before	p::before	Insert something before the content of each <p> element
::first-letter	p::first-letter	Selects the first letter of each <p> element
::first-line	p::first-line	Selects the first line of each <p> element
::selection	p::selection	Selects the portion of an element that is selected by a user